Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Web Wrap-up for August 16, 2015

Apple issues updates for lots of critical holes - patch now!

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2015/08/13/apple-issues-updates-for-lots-of-critical-holes-patch-now/




It’s time for PC companies to copy one of Apple’s best features

Apple’s capability to install Mac OS on your computer over the internet.

… even with a blank hard disk, the system firmware can connect to Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet, go online, and download the operating system directly from Apple. You can do a bare metal restore with nothing more than an Internet connection.

… it means there's no longer any need to worry about mislaid DVDs or USB sticks that you forgot to create.

On the face of it, however, this kind of thing feels very, well, un-PC.

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/08/its-time-for-pc-companies-to-copy-one-of-apples-best-features/





This Looks Like Apple's Plan To Prevent Another Bendgate

Apple used a stronger lighter aluminum alloy and made the case almost twice as thick around the buttons.

http://gizmodo.com/this-looks-like-apples-plan-to-prevent-another-bendgate-1723191387









Wealthy iPhone customers unlikely to be afraid of full, unsubsidized cost

Verizon Communication's decision to nix subsidies for smartphones may benefit Apple Inc. more than rival Android smartphone manufacturers.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-has-one-big-advantage-with-new-verizon-payment-plans-2015-08-13




Apple's Boot Camp 6 supports dual-booting with Windows 10

http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/13/apples-boot-camp-6-supports-dual-booting-with-windows-10/



20 years after Netscape's IPO, we still live in the world it created

Twenty years ago this month, Netscape floated - after having a huge success with the first mainstream web browser. It made a fortune - and started the whole dot-com boom.

No one much under 30 may have ever of heard of it, but the floatation of the first commercially successful web browser was the moment that kick-started the dot-com boon. And it was a moment that changed the world. 

We don't use the Netscape browser anymore ...... But we are essentially living in the Netscape world

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/20-years-after-netscapes-ipo-we-still-live-in-the-world-it-created-2015-08-12










Tinder has a meltdown after Vanity Fair's 'dating apocalypse' story

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tinder-has-a-meltdown-after-vanity-fairs-dating-apocalypse-story-2015-08-12






The flap between Tinder and Vanity Fair misses a larger point

More than half of online daters (54%) said dates have "seriously misrepresented" themselves in their profiles.

Around one-third of American marriages now begin online, are less likely to end, and are associated with slightly higher marital satisfaction rates than those of couples who met offline, according to one study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sorry-tinder-most-online-daters-are-liars-2015-08-13







Government requests for Twitter account information rose 52% in 2015

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/government-requests-for-twitter-account-information-rose-52-in-2015-2015-08-11








4 things you didn't know could be hacked

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/4-things-you-didnt-know-could-be-hacked-2015-08-12









Hackers to Military: Replace Us With Robots? Ha!

But will war in a machine environment necessarily favor the machines? Not according to many of the hackers at this year's DEF CON. Everyone who talked to Defense One about next year's competition were confident that it would be years before a robot team would beat human hackers at their own game.

"If machines can't win at go, can't win at poker, do they have a chance at all? That's exactly what we're talking about," Walker said.

So do the hackers think a robot is going to beat them?

"Absolutely not," said one, who declined to be named but is a self-described hacker who was providing technical support to the DEF CON CTF this year. "There are classes of challenges that will always be outside of the capabilities of machines," he said.

http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2015/08/hackers-military-replace-us-robots-ha/118993/




Hacking Tesla, Breaking Banks And Killing People Online: The Best Of Def Con 2015

It's been a rough week for corporate cybersecurity teams. Car manufacturers, garage door companies and surveillance video suppliers are headed home after security researchers spent three days exploiting cyber vulnerabilities in the most popular products in those and other industries at the Def Con hacker conference in Las Vegas.

http://www.ibtimes.com/pulse/hacking-tesla-breaking-banks-killing-people-online-best-def-con-2015-2046887






How do hackers actually get paid for their services?

Several different ways.

http://fortune.com/2015/08/14/how-do-hackers-actually-get-paid-for-their-services/






VW Didn't Want You to Find Out About This Vulnerability in Its Keyless Cars

Recently published research shows that certain car models with keyless entry and ignition systems from Volkswagen, Audi, Fiat, Honda, Volvo, Porsche, Bentley, and other makers can be hacked. But though the information may be new to us, Volkswagen has known about it since 2013 and fought in United Kingdom court to keep the information quiet.

VW filed a lawsuit to keep the researchers from publishing the findings. Two years later, the paper is finally being published.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/08/14/researchers_find_flaw_in_rfid_encryption_for_keyless_car_tech.html





Kaspersky Accused Of Using Fake Malware To Sabotage Competing Antivirus Software

It's not a great day for Russia-based Kaspersky Lab, as some of its former employees have come forward (anonymously) with information that indicates that some dastardly deeds were conducted by the company. Ultimately, it's said that Kaspersky wanted to harm its competition because they wouldn't stop stealing its work.

http://hothardware.com/news/kaspersky-accused-of-using-fake-malware-to-sabotage-competing-antivirus-software

Reader Comment:
I swear half the virus's out there are created to keep these companies running!